Denise Jaden's Blog, page 37

Saturday Stuff

Thanks so much to everyone for their kind words about my new cover for NEVER ENOUGH! I love it too.

I'm off today to watch my almost-eight-year-old compete in his first judo tournament. Very excited, and yeah, a little nervous for him.

I know I keep saying this, but I'm reading some of the most amazing YA contemporary books lately. This week I've been devouring HOW TO SAVE A LIFE by Sara Zarr. It's one of the best multiple point of view books, and one of the best books dealing with grief I have read. Highly recommended!

We are finally seeing blue skies around here (thank you, God!) and I'm off to spend as much time as humanly possible soaking it up. So for today this will be very short.

What are you up to this weekend?

NEVER ENOUGH Cover Reveal and 2nd Printing #Contest

I'm *thrilled* to be able to finally show you the cover for NEVER ENOUGH!

...But, before I do, let me tell you about a little contest I'm having. A month or so ago, my editor for LOSING FAITH sent me a couple of copies hot off the press of my 2nd printing edition. I only need one of these copies for my own posterity, so I'm giving the other one away! (Sorry, I don't have any copies of NEVER ENOUGH yet - I wish I did!) Of course I will sign it with something lovely and heartfelt. And...because I'm feeling extra excited, I will open this up internationally. I'll also be giving away some swag packs for NEVER ENOUGH, so lots of fun stuff to win!

The best thing about this contest? You can do about a zillion things to win (just make sure to tell me what you've done in the comments so I can count your entries). Spread the word, tweet, show the cover, tell your mom how excited you are for this book...or about LOSING FAITH - or review LOSING FAITH... or... about a gazillion other things. Even if you just tell me what you think of the cover, I'll enter your name!

To get you started, here's a link to NEVER ENOUGH on GoodReads. Add it to your to-read list, and there's one entry for you right there!

And now...onto my new cover! Let me know what you think!!!

And here's a little about the book:
Loann's always wanted to be popular and pretty like her sister, Claire. So when Claire's ex-boyfriend starts flirting with her, Loann is willing to do whatever it takes to feel special…even if that means betraying her sister. 
But as Loann slips inside Claire's world, she discovers that everything is not as it seems. Claire's quest for perfection is all-consuming, and comes at a dangerous price. As Claire increasingly withdraws from friends and family, Loann struggles to understand her and make amends. Can she heal their relationship—and her sister—before it's too late?
Librarians or teachers who work with teens!  I'm trying to put together a special ARC tour just for you! If you're interested in reading an advance copy of NEVER ENOUGH, please email me at d (at) denisejaden (dot) com with ARC Tour in the subject line and I'll let you know more.
Bloggers! If you want to get your hands on an early copy of NEVER ENOUGH, you can email me too! I'm trying to work out a few different ways of getting this into your hands. And if you happen to feature NEVER ENOUGH as a Waiting On Wednesday pick (first of all, thank you!), please let me know so I can pass it along to my publisher.
As you can probably tell, I'm terribly excited that my second book is finally starting to find its way into the world! Please help me spread a little bit of anticipation for it. I'd so appreciate it!!

NEVEN ENOUGH Cover Reveal and 2nd Printing #Contest

I'm *thrilled* to be able to finally show you the cover for NEVER ENOUGH!

...But, before I do, let me tell you about a little contest I'm having. A month or so ago, my editor for LOSING FAITH sent me a couple of copies hot off the press of my 2nd printing edition. I only need one of these copies for my own posterity, so I'm giving the other one away! (Sorry, I don't have any copies of NEVER ENOUGH yet - I wish I did!) Of course I will sign it with something lovely and heartfelt. And...because I'm feeling extra excited, I will open this up internationally. I'll also be giving away some swag packs for NEVER ENOUGH, so lots of fun stuff to win!

The best thing about this contest? You can do about a zillion things to win (just make sure to tell me what you've done in the comments so I can count your entries). Spread the word, tweet, show the cover, tell your mom how excited you are for this book...or about LOSING FAITH - or review LOSING FAITH... or... about a gazillion other things. Even if you just tell me what you think of the cover, I'll enter your name!

To get you started, here's a link to NEVER ENOUGH on GoodReads. Add it to your to-read list, and there's one entry for you right there!

And now...onto my new cover! Let me know what you think!!!

And here's a little about the book:
Loann's always wanted to be popular and pretty like her sister, Claire. So when Claire's ex-boyfriend starts flirting with her, Loann is willing to do whatever it takes to feel special…even if that means betraying her sister. 
But as Loann slips inside Claire's world, she discovers that everything is not as it seems. Claire's quest for perfection is all-consuming, and comes at a dangerous price. As Claire increasingly withdraws from friends and family, Loann struggles to understand her and make amends. Can she heal their relationship—and her sister—before it's too late?
Librarians or teachers who work with teens!  I'm trying to put together a special ARC tour just for you! If you're interested in reading an advance copy of NEVER ENOUGH, please email me at d (at) denisejaden (dot) com with ARC Tour in the subject line and I'll let you know more.
Bloggers! If you want to get your hands on an early copy of NEVER ENOUGH, you can email me too! I'm trying to work out a few different ways of getting this into your hands. And if you happen to feature NEVER ENOUGH as a Waiting On Wednesday pick (first of all, thank you!), please let me know so I can pass it along to my publisher.
As you can probably tell, I'm terribly excited that my second book is finally starting to find its way into the world! Please help me spread a little bit of anticipation for it. I'd so appreciate it!!

One of Those Days...

I think I've blogged every day this month so far (If I've missed any, don't tell me, because I'm really driven by goals when I think I can meet them, but if I've already failed, the rest of the month will be one long, lonely place around here.)

Anyway, it's pretty much one of those days when I don't have much to say. I spent the morning at the gym. As I mentioned on Twitter, this new gym I'm trying out has MASSAGE CHAIRS! So cool. So after my workout, I've been zoning out on one of them and reading through one of my works in progress to make some notes.

My first pass pages have gone through two of my trusty eagle-eye friends, and so this weekend I'll be going through them. I have two big deadlines I'm working toward at the moment: I need to get three opening chapters to my agent by Monday for a proposal we're working on, and I need to get my first pass pages back to my editor, I'm hoping by Thursday before I go away.

Which brings me to...I'm so excited to have the opportunity to attend the Surrey International Writer's Conference again this year! Things have been more than tight financially for us this year, but I was awarded an Access Copyright Foundation grant which has made it possible for me to go. I won't be signing books on the Saturday night there, but if you bring a copy of LOSING FAITH along, I'd be happy to sign them anytime through out the weekend. And even if you don't have a book, please stop me and say hi. I love meeting writers, and ESPECIALLY ones who read my blog.

I'm off to put together my next blog post for tomorrow, because it is a special one! Remember the cover reveal contest for NEVER ENOUGH I've been going on about....

#Nanowrimo Prep: Mapping it Out

I've spent the last week narrowing down my ideas (I had three loglines for three different projects and I've decided on one). So now I basically have a main character, a goal, and an antagonist. I feel like I have the A and the Z. Now it's just a matter of filling out B through Y, which, yeah okay, that IS a lot of letters.

So what I plan to work on this week is filling in just a few key scenes in my novel outline. I'm going to try to visual three scenes that will either help my main character toward her goal or prevent her from reaching it (I hope to find a little more about my antagonist in the process too!)
Because I want these to be strong scenes, full of conflict, I'll be asking myself questions such as: What's most important to my character? What would happen if I took that away? Where should my protagonist and antagonist first meet in the novel? From a distance or up close? In public, where they may have to put up a front and there are lots of undercurrents to the scene, or in private, which might put my MC in more danger? What would be a good setting for the climax of the novel? What would it take to get my MC to that place?

So what I hope to have by next week is something like this:

A – What state my MC will be in at the beginning of the book
C – An early success for my character toward her goal
F – A major opposition to my MC's goal
T – Possibly a climax scene, or at least a climax setting
Z – What the outcome of the story will be

I don't know that I'll fill in all the letters from A-Z, but I still have lots of my MC's journey to fill in. This is just a start to help get me dreaming about my new book. I still have extra characters and subplots to add, plus make my MC's journey a lot fuller.

If you're continuing to plan for NaNo, I'd love to hear what you've been doing!

GCC Presents Kristina Springer and JUST YOUR AVERAGE PRINCESS!

I'm excited to welcome Kristina Springer and spotlight her latest release JUST YOUR AVERAGE PRINCESS!
On sale 10/11/11 by FSG/Macmillan
Book Summary:
Jamie Edwards has loved everything about growing up on a pumpkin patch, but ever since her cousin Milan Woods arrived, things have really stunk. Jamie can't imagine it was easy for Milan to leave her life back in Los Angeles and move to Average, Illinois, population one thousand. But it's kind of hard to feel sorry for her since (a) Milan's drop-dead gorgeous; (b) she's the daughter of two of Hollywood's hottest film stars; (c) she's captured the attention of everyone in town, including Danny, Jamie's crush since forever; and (d) she's about to steal the title of Pumpkin Princess right out from underneath Jamie!



Praise for Just Your Average Princess:
 "This cheerful and heartwarming novel set in a small town will appeal to teens who enjoy YA chick lit." --VOYA

"It was such a quick and cute read! The dialogue contained a generous amount of wit and snark. As a fan of both, it heightened my enjoyment  of Just Your Average Princess even more. I really enjoyed Kristina Springer's style of writing as well as the cast of characters she created in Just Your Average Princess."
--The Fiction Enthusiast

"Springer does an excellent job capturing the fall setting, and describing the pumpkin patch. So much so, that I found myself wishing I could find the place and go there! Overall, this is a fun lighthearted read that is sure to entertain. Definitely a perfect fit for the season."
-Melissa from Goodreads, Teen Librarian

About the author:
Kristina Springer is also the author of The Espressologist, a Society of School Librarians International Book Award Honor Book, and My Fake Boyfriend is Better Than Yours, which Meg Cabot calls, "Irresistible as a fluffy kitten. I laughed out loud and so will you!" You can visit her online at www.KristinaSpringer.com, follow her on Twitter @TinaSpringer, or friend her on Facebook at facebook.com/KristinaSpringer.
The Interview:
Welcome, Kristina! Can you tell me about your book in seven words or less?
Pumpkin Patch Girl vs. Hollywood Princess.

Other than your main character, who's a favorite character of yours in your novel and why?
Milan. She's so bad she's good!

What's one piece of writing advice you would give to aspiring authors?
Don't give up. It's such a long road but worth it.
What did you write when you were a teen? Did you journal? Write poetry? Write overly literary or emotional stories? Or avoid writing altogether?
I journaled and wrote loads of way angsty poetry.

What's the last book you read that you really loved?
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

Thanks, Kristina, and all the best with JUST YOUR AVERAGE PRINCESS!

Naming Characters

I've been working on several outlines lately, and one of the most time-consuming things for me is picking the right names. Names always carry with them a set of expectations. Sometimes I like to break those expectations (like in LOSING FAITH, I used Tessa--a name I would normally think of as a soft name--for the tough chick in the novel).

A big problem I have when choosing names is that I'm from a different generation than most of the characters I write about. In each novel I write, there's usually at least one name that has to be updated into this decade. In NEVER ENOUGH, it was the older sister's best friend, originally Susan, which I updated to Jasmine.

Here's another stumbling block: names that sound or look too much alike on the page. In NEVER ENOUGH, one of the main character's names is Marcus. That was fine until the mom of the protagonist--Marcia--came into the picture. Worse, yet, my protagonist was originally calling her mother by her first name! She's now referred to as "Mom" through most of the book, and "Beth" on odd occasion.

A few other things I try to keep in mind are not having too many names starting with the same letter, watching out for rhyming names, varying the length of names (too many four-letter names, for example, can get confusing).

I don't have too much problem changing names in later drafts of books if it's a secondary character. But for main characters, I shudder at the thought of having to change their names. So I try really hard at the outlining stage to at least nail down a protagonist, antagonist, and love interest name that I'm really happy with .

My biggest aim with my MC is to make sure it's a likeable name that won't get annoying over time, and will be memorable. One of my critique partners had the most likeable names EVER for her MC and love interest (not sure if she'd want me to disclose them or not) but I always use these names as kind of a measuring stick when I'm thinking up my own character names.

So I'm curious...what are some of the most likeable, memorable character names you've read?

Here's a list of a few of my favorites in published fiction that I can think of off the top of my head (which have been done, so I wouldn't use these, but I always think of these, and what makes them likeable when I'm brainstorming). These are in no particular order:

Patton
Mia
Kara
Tyler
Etienne
Ruby
April
Robin
Amber
Adrian
Jackson

There are many more, but that's just the top of my head list. What do you think makes a name likeable and/or memorable? Or do you think the name doesn't matter and it's only the character development that matters?

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!!!

Hope all my Canadian friends have a great holiday weekend! I posted a thankful list on Thursday, but I'm continuing to come up with new things to be thankful for each day. How about you, what are you most thankful for?

Why Write Contemporary YA?

Mary from Anxirium Blog has put together a great Author's Voice post from different authors (including myself) on why they write YA Contemporary. Check it out here.

If you write (or read) contemporary YA, what do you like most about it?

Friday Four - Writerly Business!

1. I ALMOST have a cover to show of NEVER ENOUGH! The cover is actually complete, I'm hoping I can have a summary to post with it so it makes it IMPOSSIBLE for you to not want to read this book! LOL. I'll have a little contest with the unveiling of the cover giving away a couple of cool prizes, like a copy of the 2nd Printing edition of LOSING FAITH, and some cool new swag for NEVER ENOUGH. Fun, yes?

2. My agent got back to me yesterday about my outline for the companion novel to LOSING FAITH. It's tentatively called FINDING HOPE, and it will be in Tessa's point of view. My agent had lots of good things to say about my outline, but she still thinks it needs to be a bit more focused. She likes it, though, and is eager to get it off to my editor, as soon as we tweak it a little. Yay!!!

3. Until I heard from my agent, I was working on a new project. I think of it as "the forbidden manuscript" because A. It's about forbidden love, and B. It's not the manuscript I *should* be working on. But sometimes you just have to stop shoulding on yourself and follow your heart. Right? RIGHT? 

4. My 1PP (otherwise known as First Pass Pages) for NEVER ENOUGH arrived yesterday, which is basically the interiors of the book the way it will look when it is finished. Not quite as much squealing with this one as with LOSING FAITH. It's a little plainer in comparison. Here's a little glimpse:

But I still love it. Annnnddd...there is an excerpt of LOSING FAITH at the back, so there ARE still butterflies:
I'll be busy petting, er, I mean WORKING THROUGH these pages over the weekend. This is my last, last chance at making changes (at least I think it is. I have heard of authors working on 2nd pass pages, but so far I haven't had any part in that stage) so I'll be going through it with a micro-fine tooth comb, trying very hard to concentrate on every word, paragraph, and page.

How about you? Do you have any writing/revising/reading planned for the weekend?